


Persuasion

by CalicoCatMom



Category: Atlantis (UK TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical bandit fighting, Gen, Lots of canon tropes, Pythagoras doesn't want to learn to fight, pre-episode s01e11 Hunger Pangs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 04:29:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14229297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalicoCatMom/pseuds/CalicoCatMom
Summary: The situation is darkening in Atlantis as word of King Minos' illness has spread. The city and its surroundings aren't safe anymore, and Jason and Hercules believe that Pythagoras needs to learn how to defend himself. He, however, is going to be hard to persuade to let them teach him...(takes place before s01e11 Hunger Pangs)





	Persuasion

“No. Thank you, Jason, but no.”

Jason had expected this response, or something similar, from Pythagoras. “I know you’re not keen on the idea, but I really think it’s important that you learn how to defend yourself after all that’s been happening,” he said.

“Please, Jason. You know I’m completely useless at anything involving weaponry.”

“That’s why Hercules and I want to teach you. We can change that.”

“I’ve been told by more than one person that I’m a hopeless case.”

“Was one of those people your father?” Hercules inquired shrewdly.

Pythagoras turned in his seat at the dining table in the main room of their little house and met Hercules’ eyes. “Yes. He tried to teach me sword work when I was seven. He would make his… frustration... known when I could not copy what he showed me.” He swallowed at the memory. “It was a relief when he gave up on me.”

“Do you really think we would ever treat you like that?” Hercules asked in a low voice.

Pythagoras’ expression warmed. “No. Of course not.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Jason asked.

“It’s not enough that I have no aptitude and no interest?”

“Ordinarily it would be. I wouldn’t be nagging you like this if I didn’t think it was vital. Things are changing around here, and they’re not changing for the better. Everyone knows that King Minos is deathly ill, and it’s emboldened every bandit and criminal in the region. The queen won’t help because she doesn’t care about the lives of the common people. Ariadne is doing what she can, but still people only go out after dark these days in groups, and children don’t play in the streets. Didn’t you tell us yesterday that a man with a pair of knives started following you on your way back from the library, and you had to do all kinds of tricks in order to give him the slip?”

Pythagoras nodded.

“Hercules and I can’t be there all the time to protect you,” Jason continued. “What if that guy had caught you? You need to learn how to protect yourself.”

Pythagoras listened unhappily and did not reply.

Jason tried again. “Because of all this, wouldn’t letting us teach you how to fight be a logical thing to do?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” 

“Good. That’s settled, then. Come on, let’s get you equipped.”

“I’ve got a sword that I don’t use,” Hercules offered. “It’s too small and light for me. It ought to be about right for you.”

Pythagoras didn’t move. 

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen you resist something logical,” Hercules commented.

Pythagoras sighed. “It’s not just about my father. When my brother Arcas was old enough, a neighbor taught him swordsmanship, and he… changed. His already volatile temper worsened. He became impatient and aggressive, and obsessed with vengeance against our father’s killer. He’d boast about his skill and became reckless, started gambling, and lost all care for both our mother and me. He lost friends, and the new ones he made were not a good influence.” Pythagoras paused. “It changed who he was. I don’t want it to change who I am.”

Jason smiled reassuringly. “It’s that attitude that will keep it from changing who you are. You’re nothing like your brother. What happened to him isn’t going to happen to you.”

“Besides, you don’t have to become a warrior like me,” Hercules put in. Then he caught the look Jason gave him. “…like us,” he corrected. “You just need the ability to keep yourself alive when faced with people like that man with the knives.”

“Both of you, please stop!” Pythagoras exclaimed. “I know you mean well, and thank you for that, but I do not want weapons training!” He got up from the table and vanished into his bedroom, pulling the curtain behind him.

“That didn’t go at all well,” Hercules concluded.

“Give him some time. We’ll find another way to persuade him,” Jason answered.

 

A few days later, Pythagoras, Jason, and Hercules passed through the forest outside Atlantis, returning from a job delivering a set of bridal jewelry commissioned for a young noblewoman in Patmos.

“Well, that was the easiest mission we’ve been on in a good while!” Hercules remarked. “And the best paying one too! We’ll be able to invest in racing beetles as well as keep ourselves in the very best wine for a good while!”

“No!” Jason and Pythagoras both exclaimed.

“What do you mean, no? The right beetles could make us very, very rich!”

“What about fixing the kitchen shelves, and replacing those dishes you broke the last time you were too drunk to find your way to bed?” Pythagoras countered.

“You worry too much, Pythagoras! We deserve this chance to live a little!”

Abruptly Jason stopped and put out his arm to hold his companions back. “Shh!” he hissed. “Did you hear that?”

“No,” said Hercules.

Suddenly the trio was surrounded by eight grinning and heavily armed bandits.

“We’re just out on a hunting trip, so we’re carrying nothing valuable. You might as well save your effort!” Hercules announced. When there was no response, he added, “You have no idea who we are, have you? This is Jason, the Pankration champion of Atlantis, and I’m Hercules, the hero who trained him! You’d be wise to stand aside and let us pass!”

The bandits were not impressed. With feral snarls, they charged. Jason and Hercules drew their swords and engaged them. 

Pythagoras seized a fallen tree branch from the ground by his feet and swung it instinctively at the bandit who attacked him. He managed to connect and throw the bandit momentarily off balance. 

That moment was enough for Jason to dispatch him. 

“Pythagoras, get clear!” Jason yelled, then turned his attention back to the battle.

Pythagoras ran to the nearest large tree. He was about to climb it when he saw at its roots four stones, each the size of a large walnut. He shoved the stones in his belt pouch and climbed. 

Below him, Hercules was in trouble. Three of the bandits surrounded him, and they weren’t novice fighters. Jason was too busy with more of them to help. Pythagoras took one of the stones he’d picked up and threw it as hard as he could. He hit the bandit he’d aimed at in the head, and the intervention enabled Hercules to surprise and overpower him. 

Pythagoras threw a second stone and hit another bandit coming at Hercules from behind. He stumbled, and Hercules whirled around and knocked him down. 

Jason was now the one with multiple opponents. He was further away. Pythagoras missed his next target, but not by much, and the distraction was enough for Jason to take advantage of. Hercules then ran over to help him.

Suddenly the tree swayed beneath Pythagoras, and he dropped his last stone. He looked down, and the largest of the bandits was shaking the tree and grinning up at him. The next thing Pythagoras knew, he had fallen, and lay flat on his back on the ground with the breath knocked out of him. 

The bandit stepped forward and pointed his sword at Pythagoras’ heart. 

Then Jason appeared, his sword raised and his teeth gritted. The bandit never knew what hit him.

“That was the last one,” Jason panted, holding out his hand to help Pythagoras up. 

Hercules joined them, also breathing hard. “That was a close one!” he said.

“Agreed,” Jason replied. “Is everyone all right?”

Once assured that none of them had sustained any significant injuries, just scrapes and bruises, the trio went to gather their belongings.

They had barely begun when a loud chorus of battle cries broke out. 

“They’ve got reinforcements!” Pythagoras realized anxiously.

“That’s a lot of voices,” Hercules added.

“Run!” Jason cried.

They fled.

 

When they were finally sure they had eluded all pursuit and relaxed their pace, Hercules complained, “There goes all the fruits of our labor. We left almost everything behind, including all our wages for this trip! We’re broke all over again!”

“At least we escaped with our lives,” Jason retorted.

They began to make camp. Pythagoras refilled their waterskins from a small nearby stream while Hercules lit a campfire, and Jason went out and soon returned with a pair of rabbits. Pythagoras stuffed them with some herbs he’d found by the stream and roasted them, and the trio settled in for supper as the sky dimmed toward twilight.

“Ah! Well, this day is ending much better than it started!” Hercules opined. 

Pythagoras smiled in amusement. No matter what the situation, food could always cheer Hercules up.

Jason then caught Pythagoras’ attention. “What happened today is exactly what I’ve been trying to talk to you about,” he said. “This is why you need to learn how to fight. What if I’d been two seconds later getting to you when you fell out of that tree? That bandit would’ve killed you. Now will you let us teach you?” 

Pythagoras had to admit that Jason was right. It also occurred to him that to have an additional skill would allow him to contribute more on these missions. Making himself as valuable to the team as possible was both a logical and a responsible thing to do. Pythagoras gave his friends a slow nod, and along with it his trust. 

Jason smiled. “Good man.”

Hercules smiled also. “You’ll be needing that small sword I’ve got after all, then!”

“Thank you,” Pythagoras said.

“And if you can throw rocks like that,” Hercules continued, “you might have the eye to use a bow. I’ve got one of those somewhere too.” 

 

Pythagoras had long lost track of how many times during these weapons training sessions with Hercules and Jason that he’d ended up sprawled on the ground or pinned against trees with his friends’ swords at his throat. He’d done better with the bow; his love of precision and his steady healer’s hands stood him in good stead, and his arrows usually at least came close to hitting their targets. Whenever he got frustrated in sword practice, like right now, he tried to channel it into determination to do the best he could.

Yet again Jason helped Pythagoras up from the ground. “Are you all right?” Jason asked.

Even though he ached all over, Pythagoras nodded. He was still panting from exertion.

Hercules picked up what was now Pythagoras’ sword from where it landed when Jason knocked it from his hand. The wrestler smiled as he returned it. “That was good! You’re definitely improving!”

“Really? I feel like I’ve been thrown from a horse!”

“Yes, really! That’s the longest you’ve ever lasted against him!”

“And you’re observant. You’ve been able to anticipate some of my moves,” Jason added.

“Let’s call it a day and go to the tavern and celebrate!” Hercules declared.

“I thought we were broke because we lost the money we earned delivering that girl’s jewelry,” Jason protested.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll pay next time.”

“Hercules, the last time you said that to them, they threw you out.”

Hercules exhaled loudly. “Fine. Then let’s give Pythagoras some more practice with that bow and see if he can hunt us down some supper. If we can’t go to the tavern, we can at least have a good stew.”

Pythagoras shouldered his new bow and found himself smiling, still surprised at how well his new sword fitted his hand. For the first time in his life, he could hold a weapon without revulsion. Instead how he felt now was useful and empowered.


End file.
